A few people cast odd glances at the two of Fixers, one unconscious man and one expressionless girl. Other than that, no one gave them any attention. Asher, who was a head shorter than Yun in his Synchronization form, supported the man's head on his shoulder as he carried him forward.
By the time they arrived at the Office, Yun could stand up on his two feet again. He pulled away from Asher, thanking him for the help as they walked past the Office doors.
"As expected of a Grade 7... Sorry for the trouble I gave you when you saved me." Yun bowed deeply, but didn't forget to pull out a few bills from his wallet to pay him. Asher spared no pleasantries, directly swiping the small paper slips into his dress pockets.
"No problem, thank you for letting me participate instead; this was my first mission, after all." Asher tried to hand back Yun's folding knife, but the man shook his head and pushed it back. Another gift from him, seeing that Asher had no other weapons.
"Oh, and before you leave, let me give you some advice. Because you aren't affiliated with any Office currently, be sure to make some connections to the Offices in this Section. This way, they might hire you temporarily like I did, or you can even go to them for help with your own tasks." Yun opened the door for him, ushering him out the door.
After thanking Yun and waving him goodbye, Asher stepped onto the cracked paved streets.
He took out the bills that Yun gave him, counting them up.
'300 Ahn? That's a lot, at least from what I've seen so far. The mission I did with Finn about the cat only gave 50 Ahn, and the money I got this time doesn't account for the money that Yun took for himself.' Asher estimated that the entire reward money might have been 500 Ahn, but he wasn't sure.
He felt rich as he folded the small stack of money into his pocket. Of course, it was totally insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it was the first time he held money with his own hands in this life.
Walking aimlessly, he wondered where he should go next.
At first he planned to head back home, but he found himself approaching HamHamPangPang instead.
Asher was feeling a bit peckish, and he figured he could also explore the Hana app's forum while he ate.
'The thing is, since Mei's there, should I go in as Sophie or Asher?' He debated in his head, eventually deciding to just be himself. He felt that if he kept distancing himself from his real body using synchronizations, then he might one day decide to become Sophie entirely.
As much as it felt comfortable wearing a dress-
He stopped his thoughts, transforming back to clear his head.
The fusing of personalities during synchronizations wasn't always a good thing... Asher could only hope that the residual preferences didn't carry over when he transformed.
'System? Any thoughts on that?'
[Yes. Don't worry, your personalities and preferences between synchronizations are entirely separate.] Asher sighed in relief at the System's reassurances.
Following the savory aroma of food, he stepped into the restaurant Mei worked in. She was behind the counter, resting her head on her hand.
Her head shot up as she saw Asher, and she called out his name in excitement.
"Asher! What'd you do this morning?"
"Just some Fixer work. I came here to see you, actually. And eat, too."
Mei grinned, leaning forward to hug him, but her face suddenly fell. It seemed like she remembered something; she looked guilty as she tore her eyes away from him.
"Asher... there's this girl that knows you. Her name is Sophie, and-" Mei's eyes glazed with worry as she remembered yesterday's events.
"I know her. What's wrong?" Asher didn't know where this would lead to, but he figured he would have to get used to events like this. He was the one who lied that his synchronization was a separate person, after all.
"Could you... get to know her better? She really cares about you. And- please tell her I'm sorry. For her arm..."
Mei wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and a choked sob came from her mouth.
"Er, okay..." He couldn't really tell her that 'Sophie' was completely fine, so he didn't know how to respond.
Asher heard a light cough behind him, interrupting their conversation. Yan stood behind him, observing the commotion with interest.
Her face seemed to say, 'am I going to be the one who says the truth?' Mei's face reddened as she saw Yan's eyes flick back and forth from her to Asher.
However, Asher could only wonder why Yan was here once again.
"Are you here because of another Prescript? Did it tell you to meet me here again?"
Yan laughed, tilting her head slightly.
"No. Like everyone, I have to eat, too. After you order your food, you're welcome to join me." With that, she walked back to her seat, where her food was laid out over the table.
Asher noticed that Yan had ordered the same thing as last time, the spicy pork belly wrap. He realized that she wasn't lying to him last time; she really was a regular customer here.
"You should eat with Messenger Yan, she's also friends with Sophie. What do you want to order?" Mei unsubtly nudged Asher toward Yan, for the sake of 'Sophie'.
How he wished to exclaim that he was Sophie, but Asher felt that in the long run separating his powers into different beings this way would have more benefits. Yan was the only person to know his secret, and he planned to keep it that way.
"Yeah... I'll have a grilled avocado sandwich-" Asher almost said 'like last time' near the end, but he stopped himself just in time to remind himself that Mei didn't know his secret.
"Aww, you even order the same things as her." Mei smirked, but Asher only pulled out the money in his pocket, sliding over a bill that covered the cost of the sandwich. Ten Ahn, it was.
"Alright. I'm gonna go to Yan now."
Mei shooed him away, smiling as she wished him good luck.
...
Yan scooted aside as Asher approached, leaving an empty space for Asher beside her.
As he sat down, the Messenger began to speak.
"What happened yesterday with the Thumb? Nothing happened to Mei, right?" Yan wouldn't admit it, but she cared about Mei, too. She saw her working every time she came here, so it was only natural.
Asher told her what happened with Kalo, Stella, and the Soldato. As he got to the part where the two of them approached the Soldato in the 'Members Only' room, Yan interrupted him, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Those bastards, that Sottocapo should control his Soldatos better. Did you meet him there? Sottocapo Kalo?"
"Yeah, you know him? Do you know Capo Stella too?" Yan nodded and took another bite of her sandwich.
"Kalo is infamous in Section 12 for his... personality. As for Stella, I've heard of her before. She became a Capo just when I joined the Index as a Proselyte. Her reputation is quite high. Or should I say low?" She stopped talking as Mei placed a plastic bag filled with food on their table.
It was Asher's meal, and Yan had the decency to let him enjoy the first few bites of his grilled avocado sandwich.
"So what happened when you went into there? Was Mei forced to..." Yan trailed off, but to her relief Asher shook his head.
He explained how Kalo gave him a chance to save Mei by killing the Soldato, and how he murdered the man in a heated rage.
He spared no details, still angry at the long dead Soldato. Yan grabbed his wrist as he retold the enormous explosion that vaporized his arm.
"How did you heal the wound?" Hearing the grisly details Asher gave, Yan stroked his wrist subconsciously.
"Uhm, about that..." Asher didn't know how to break it to her that he became a Fixer. He wasn't sure whether to even tell her, but eventually decided to tell the truth.
"Long story short, I became a Fixer, and they healed me. ...Are you fine with that?"
"Hah? Why wouldn't I be? I'm just... glad that you're fine." Yan wiggled between his arm, popping out in his embrace. Her cold demeanor was cast away as she snuggled against him, closing her eyes gently.
After a minute of silence, she opened her eyes again.
"But in all seriousness, it's fine. I don't know why, but Fixers don't usually mess with the Fingers like the Thumb and the Index. I think it has something to do with how we manage parts of the Section for them. Of course, clashes are inevitable, but besides that, our actions rarely conflict much."
A second thought caused her eyebrows to twitch.
"Well, I'm not sure about the Ring and Pinky. They're... different."
As Yan breathed lightly in his arms, he noticed how delicate her body was. She fit perfectly in his arms, and her radiant white hair smelled like mint, too.
"Oh, Yan, do you know any Colored Fixers?" Asher suddenly thought of the most powerful group of Fixers in the world.
The girl scrunched her mouth and burrowed deeper into the darkness.
"Ugh, those Fixers... They can pretty much do anything they want to since they're so influential. They're a diverse group, to say the least. Some are worse than others."
Asher absentmindedly ran his fingers through Yan's hair, oblivious to her purrs as she leaned closer to him.
"What about the Red Mist? Have you heard of her?"
He flinched as Yan shot out of his arms, glaring at him.
"That woman!" A few gazes turned to her as she shouted.
Yan flushed with embarrassment, clearing her throat to collect herself. "She's wiped out an entire Section's worth of Proxies and five Messengers last year. We try to avoid her."
Seeing Asher staring wide-eyed at her previous outburst, the girl hurriedly collected the trash on their table for a distraction.
As Yan cleaned, Asher was lost in thought.
'Fighting three Proxies and five Messengers at the same time... If Yan was one of those Messengers when that happened...' He was sure that the Red Mist had her own reasons for doing that, but seeing Yan's slightly rosy face in front of him, he could only think of her.
Suddenly Yan's ears twitched as her gaze unfocused. When she spoke again, her face had turned expressionless again.
"Um, I have to deliver a new Prescript now. But first-"
A light blush appeared on her otherwise emotionless face.
"-let's add each other on Line, please." Yan held out her hand for Asher's phone, and he gladly gave it to her.
After she added him, she gave his phone back, waving goodbye before walking away.
Asher was left there smiling dazedly as he stared at her name on his contacts list. Mei broke his reverie by tapping his shoulder.
She had seen everything that happened since their table was so close to the front. Their interactions were so cute that her heart nearly couldn't take it.
"I suppose Yan's a good girl too... But next time you see Sophie, remember to tell me how she's doing!" Mei nudged his arm, winking not-so-subtly.
Asher heaved a sigh.
"Okay, I will."
Mei nodded in satisfaction as she returned to the counter to help another customer.
Now that he was alone at the table, Asher took out his phone.